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Senators Hassan, Shaheen Announce $2.8 Million in Federal Funding to Support Ocean Monitoring that’s Critical for Maritime Businesses and Coastal Communities in New Hampshire

WASHINGTON - Senators Maggie Hassan and Jeanne Shaheen today announced a nearly $3 million federal grant for the Northeastern Regional Association of Coastal and Ocean Observing Systems (NERACOOS). The grant will help ensure that maritime businesses and coastal communities in New Hampshire have accurate, real-time information on weather and ocean conditions.

The grant is an increase in funding of $425,000 from last year, and will help advance the development of NERACOOS’s observing and forecasting system, which has been operating since 2001. Additional funds will be used for observations in the Gulf of Maine, as well as to support high frequency radar to improve accuracy in observing the regions ocean surface currents.

"Maritime products and trade is integral to New Hampshire’s economy and we must do everything that we can to ensure that our fishermen and commercial shippers have the most up-to date, accurate information regarding weather and ocean currents,” Senator Hassan said. “I am pleased to announce this federal grant for NERACOOS, which will help improve their observation system and support maritime businesses and our coastal communities in New Hampshire.”

"NERACOOS does important work to monitor the health of our ocean and coastal waters throughout the Northeast and provide early warning of weather conditions," said Senator Shaheen, the lead Democrat on the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee that approved this funding. "This increase in federal funding will allow for NERACOOS to improve its efforts as it serves this critical mission to our local economy and the sustainability of our Seacoast. I appreciate NOAA's recognition of these efforts in New Hampshire, and I will continue to work across the aisle to advocate for funding for our oceans."

Senators Shaheen and Hassan have been steadfast advocates for New Hampshire’s fishermen and coastal communities. Earlier this year, the two Senators helped secure critical New Hampshire objectives in the bipartisan America’s Water Infrastructure Act of 2018, that urges the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) to prioritize mitigation efforts at Hampton and Portsmouth Harbors. In March, Shaheen and Hassan calledon the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney and Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works R.D. James to include emergency dredging for Hampton Harbor in the OMB and the Corps’ fiscal year 2018 work plan.

The mission of NERACOOS is to produce, integrate, and communicate high-quality information that helps ensure safety, economic and environmental resilience, and sustainable use of the coastal ocean. To learn more click here.